A father was filling out the application form for his daughter who was seeking entrance to a very exclusive college. He came to the question on the form asking whether his daughter was a leader. In honesty he wrote, "No, but she’s a good follower." A few weeks later a letter arrived notifying him that his daughter had been accepted. At the bottom of the letter the dean had written, "Since the entering class of 500 has 499 leaders, we thought there ought to be one follower." Unlike the entering class of that college, the church has but one leader and many followers. Jesus Christ leads, we follow.

Remember when we, as children, played the game, "Follow the Leader"? To be a good player we had to keep our eyes on the leader and our mind on the game. As we anticipated the next action, we were able to follow it within a split second. It is difficult to follow our Lord’s lead when our eyes and minds wander away from him by focusing on ourselves or on plastic goals and desires. By plastic, I mean things that lack substance compared to love, joy, peace, patience, and kindness which the Bible describes as the fruits of knowing Christ and following him.

If you haven’t tasted joy for awhile and peace is something you have been longing for, consider getting your eyes back on the Leader. We do that by getting back into the Bible, by talking our life over with him in prayer, and by tasting his forgiveness at the Holy Communion table. Goodness, patience, and kindness can be ours as we follow the Leader.

And the ever popular concept of love ... what about that? The Lord, dwelling in the hearts of his followers, helps them develop a love that is fervent, hardy, and creative. A love that strains like a horse in full gallop. A love that endures like the strength of a long-distance runner. One that helps us create our own personality as we help others create theirs.